The Crimes of Grindelwald Movie Review


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Christopher Ocker, Staff Writer

I am someone who has grown up loving the Harry Potter series. I have read all the books, seen all the movies, and gone to the Wizarding World in Universal Studios multiple times. Even when the series is at its lowest points, I can still find enjoyment within the universe that J. K. Rowling created. For all of these reasons, it pains me to say that The Crimes of Grindelwald, the second film in the 5-movie prequel arc, is such a disappointing story told by an author who has shown to be a clever and intelligent story teller.

The Crimes of Grindelwald follows the evil wizard of the same name and his attempts to unite the wizarding world to become the leading race against Muggles. Meanwhile, the other witches and wizards are trying to stop him. While that may seem like it is a thin storyline, that is about all that this movie accomplishes in its 2 and a half hour run-time.There are just so many things that drag this story back to a snail’s pace that makes the entire journey feels not only boring but ultimately uneventful. By the end of the movie, the only thing that has been accomplished is characters picking sides in the wizarding war that is about to occur. Nothing else can really be called significant. The main mystery of Cadence’s parents is about the only other subplot that gets partially resolved but it is done in such a ridiculously lazy and convoluted that it felt like it was a part of a different film. And the “plot twist” at the ending is more preoccupied with shocking the audience than actually making coherent sense.

By far the biggest issues with The Crimes of Grindelwald is its characters. There are no issues with characters like Newt and Credence, they should not be the focus of this story. We already know that these films are going to be leading to the battle between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, so why are they not the main characters instead. This means that the characters we are following for a majority of the story don’t make decisions or affect the plot in any meaningful way. For the few characters who do make their own decisions, the decisions themselves are either completely inconsistent with their character or don’t make much sense within the context of the situations.

While there are no huge flaws in the film techniques used throughout the movie, the plot is one of the messiest and most rushed stories I have seen in quite a while. I know that J. K. Rowling is able to create brilliantly told stories but The Crimes of Grindelwald feels like it was written by an amateur. The writing is incredibly lazy, the pacing is painfully slow, and the fan service feels shoehorned in. The Crimes of Grindelwald is nothing less than padding, a story’s whose sole purpose is to make money and set up another film that promises to finish plot. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done and I am afraid that the rest of the Fantastic Beasts arc is already doomed for failure.x